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Underground > Comic Books >

Comics have overdosed on adverts

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23:32 / 29.10.05

>> To say nothing of who thought it would be a good idea to give it two of the first three pages of all the fucking books.

Exactly! That was mighty annoying. Might have to fire off an email to Joe Q about that one (his email is public: JoeydaQ@aol.com and he actually almost always answers fans' messages, albiet briefly, which is understandable). of course, he might just give the same answer as in the Newsarama article linked above and say 'it will improve, we're working on it,' which is at least a welcome answer and acknowledgment of the problem.

12:46 / 01.11.05

Latest issue of Daredevil - 26 fucking pages of ads. Goddamn. That was faaaar too many. Only 2 double page spreads without ads in the whole book, and that's compared to the three double page spreads that the ads got.

How fucked is that? More ads than story, that's just too much. I never thought I'd say it, but I may stop buying Marvel if they keep this up, and just wait for the trades, which sucks. Trades don't feel as "real" to me as single issues. There's something about holding them, looking at the covers, having a perfect place to stop... and you don't feel as "WTF?!" as when you read an £18 GN in one sitting.

But is there a way around this for Marvel? And how do the books with no ads make their money? Anyone in the biz know how this can be?

13:40 / 01.11.05

It depends what you mean by 'make money'.

23:01 / 07.11.05

Newarama reports from the Wizard World Texas Marvel panel:

>>• A fan asked about the recent placement of ads in Marvel comics, particularly the placement of the Honda Civic ad at the front of many comics over the last couple of months. Lowe said that those who work on the editorial side weren't happy with the placement of that particular ad either, and they were working to push ads to the back of the books.

14:00 / 12.11.05

I wouldn't get your hopes up. In the neverending battle between editorial and ad sales the sad truth is that for most publications advertising brings in more revenue than editorial content. This really is the bottom line when it comes to most publishers, who are in publishing to make money...

Matthew Fluxington

14:07 / 12.11.05

I imagine that most comic book fans are in denial about the fact that monthly mainstream comics are periodicals, and virtually all periodicals have been balooning with ads for the past decade or so. Though it's annoying to have the story broken up with so many ads, I'm glad to see Marvel make an intelligent business decision for once.

Matthew Fluxington

14:09 / 12.11.05

Also, it's not THAT hard to just ignore ads and flip to the next page.

rabideyemovement

15:21 / 12.11.05

It's not that hard, but it's quite annoying to have an ad for every page of art. I can put up with advertisements interrupting the story but Marvel is going waaaaaay overboard with the stuff. I understand wanting to make as much $$$ as possible, but if it gets any worse, I probably will drop some of their titles.

Mister Six, whom all the girls

15:36 / 12.11.05

The Honda ad is terrible. Plus, how about the four-six page ad for that Hero Clix-like thing... that IS a comic book? Yer reading along and people in tights are beating the snot out of each other... suddenly there's an army guy fighting centaurs!

Between that ad campaign, the Batman Vs three-page ad and the video game ads... it's gotten absurd.

It completely kills the flow of the comic. The artists must be pissed off.

rabideyemovement

15:38 / 12.11.05

I would be if were drawing comics. I have little tolerance for ads. One of the reasons I don't have television.

Matthew Fluxington

15:50 / 12.11.05

You know, at this point, you all should be grateful that they are even publishing these things rather than complaining about the ads, which are keeping the things in print at all.

Matthew Fluxington

15:53 / 12.11.05

It's also really troubling to me that some intelligent folks like you are getting so deeply confused by the ads.

17:47 / 12.11.05

It's not that, Flux. As Six says it does hurt the overall flow of the story. I don't mind some amount of ads, as I tend to generate an ad-filter in my mind when reading.

I think the reason it's getting complained about now is because it's reached some kind of mental saturation point. When you have more advert pages than comic pages the overall feeling is that you've just paid £2.50 for a wad of ads.

18:54 / 12.11.05

you could always wait for the trade - no ads there...

20:03 / 12.11.05

I can't believe you people have been reading comics for as long as you have and can't just skip ads and not filter 'em out and not care.

rabideyemovement

21:39 / 12.11.05

I doubt the ads actually confuse anyone, they just annoy. There are alot more ads these days than I've ever been accustomed to. Now half the book will be adverts. It would be like trying to watch television when there are more commercials than actual programming. If they really want to cram that many ads in the book they should lump most of them together in the rear, where I can easily ignore them. When I pay 4 bucks for a comic, I'm paying for escapist literature, not for loads of ads for crap I don't need. One third a book of ads is too much, but acceptable. Half the magazine is way too much and just looks plain greedy on their part. It is bothersome, and there are plenty of comics on the market by cheaper publishers who carry a fraction of the ads.

Matthew Fluxington

04:13 / 13.11.05

Actually when you pay for a comic you're paying for a magazine and magazines have ads.

rabideyemovement

06:49 / 13.11.05

Then I'm going to start paying for magazines with less ads.

09:14 / 13.11.05

I'm kind of with Triplets on this. It is a matter of degree. Sure, I can filter out ads, but recently it's become more difficult, and that detracts from my enjoyment.

I think it's possible to appreciate (support even) the sound business thinking behind the quantity of ads in today's Marvel comics, without actually liking the move.

12:53 / 13.11.05

What about those weird Nike ads with those Sleestak/Mothman/Clayface looking things with big round eyes? Crreeeeepy.... and not a shoe-related item in sight in the ad.

12:57 / 13.11.05

Quesada did say in a recent interview about the ads that at least it's a sign that bigger, more powerful advertisers (than had ever previously advertised in comics) are wanting to place ads in comic books, which is very good for the business (Honda, Nike, etc.) He emphasized that it's a learning curve and Marvel is working on finding the balance, but they sure don't want to say no to all these great new advertisers either.

20:05 / 13.11.05

/I doubt the ads actually confuse anyone, they just annoy. There are alot more ads these days than I've ever been accustomed to. Now half the book will be adverts. It would be like trying to watch television when there are more commercials than actual programming./

Which is exactly why I don't even like to watch television because I can't tolerate two opening minutes then five minutes of adverts. It's just worse in tv as far as I'm concerned and much more bothersome because if you're not watching a recording you can't fast forward while in comics you can flip the page and barely look at them. I don't even know what the ads are about because I just flip the page not knowing what half the ads are.

/If they really want to cram that many ads in the book they should lump most of them together in the rear, where I can easily ignore them. When I pay 4 bucks for a comic, I'm paying for escapist literature, not for loads of ads for crap I don't need./

Flux said it already.

/One third a book of ads is too much, but acceptable. Half the magazine is way too much and just looks plain greedy on their part. It is bothersome, and there are plenty of comics on the market by cheaper publishers who carry a fraction of the ads./

They are greedy. They're a corporation, what's so shocking about that? Just buy trades. I very rarely buy singles now because I don't like them and it's better to Byrne steal or websteal if you can't wait for the trade. And indies don't have that many adverts who I religiously support.

21:29 / 13.11.05

If only I was patient enough to wait for the trades.

Must. Exercise. Self. Control.

22:02 / 13.11.05

Well, that wait for new material to appear is a perfect time to try something new...

22:27 / 13.11.05

Spawn vs Violator?

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